Lemonade Therapy

Beyonce in her album film Lemonade

I am a long time fan of Beyonce, but for some reason I didn’t listened or watched Lemonade until 2 weeks ago. Despite my admiration for the artist, I was kind of over it: the drama around the alleged affair of husband’s Jay-Z, the girl power mantra… I knew the film was certainly very good knowing Beyonce is such a perfectionist, the problem is I thought I knew what to expect. Then I read a couple of reviews and public comments about the album and my interest started to grow. Some people (especially women, women of colour) talked about mind blowing experience, that the world changed a bit after listening and watching Lemonade, that they could recognize themselves or someone they knew in each song etc… So I downloaded it, at this point I was dying of curiosity even if I was still convinced we saw everything of Beyonce’s genius. And boy I was not disappointed. Everything from the music, to the styling, the casting (Serena Williams, Zendaya, Winnie Harlow, Michaela De Prince, Ibeyi’s musical duo among others) or the storyline is just perfection to me. The image always seems to play between dreamy, romantic aesthetic (beautiful New Orleans landscapes) and rawness of unknowns real life with at times strange apparitions, disturbing atmosphere (dancers in trance in parking lot basement or the camera taking us slowly to long dark hallways). Whether it’s an act or a fact, which we will probably never know, Beyonce embarks us in her inner soul healing journey, a sort of therapy. For the first time the superstar appears vulnerable, human like the rest of us, fighting her own demons, with sharp lyrics about her anger and facing her desillusions about the man she loves, but it’s also a powerful testimony of black identity and a new era of strong black women who celebrate their heritage and ancestors. The fashion is another amazing aspect of the film: designers like Roberto Cavalli by Peter Dundas, Gucci, or Marc Jacobs mixed with vintage victorian style costumes largely contribute to the narrative of the story. What I also loved is how Beyonce looks natural, like her true beauty is revealed with a lot of sequences with minimal make up. She plays with tribal codes with the white painting faces reinforcing the African roots pride. I could talk hours about the album, all I want to say is I was profoundly moved and touched by Lemonade, it’s a true masterpiece. I’m not saying it’s for everyone, but those who are sensitive to creativity can’t possibly stay indifferent to this film. Good job Bey!